Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken

This healthy chicken recipe is a wholesome twist on the ultra-appealing teriyaki chicken stir fry that was my earliest gateway into Asian food. It’s made with more natural ingredients, you can adapt it for teriyaki chicken breasts or thighs, and the teriyaki chicken sauce is just 8 ingredients, including the water (which I don’t think counts, do you?).

I was introduced to Japanese teriyaki chicken via our hometown’s favorite (only?) Japanese takeout joint. It was in the corner of a nondescript strip mall. The only notable décor was large-scale photos of the menu items plastered to the walls and bottles of Kikkoman soy sauce on the tables.

What the restaurant lacked in atmosphere, it more than made up for in food. My go-to order was the teriyaki chicken with a big side of sticky rice. The memory of it still makes my mouth water. I’ll forever consider teriyaki chicken a comfort food.

I suspect you’ve encountered teriyaki chicken in some capacity, be it a favorite takeout spot of your own, a mall food court, or a recipe you saw printed on the back of bottled teriyaki sauce at the grocery store.

If your experience has been like mine, with very few exceptions, most teriyaki chicken recipes are laden with sugar, sodium, and other ingredients meant to be consumed in moderation versus as a healthy dinner.

For today’s Teriyaki Chicken recipe, I drew inspiration from that perfect plate of Japanese teriyaki chicken I remember from my youth, then gave it a wholesome makeover.

Serve it with rice and a side of veggies, and you have yourself a knockout dinner that beats the pants off of takeout every single time!

Without my expressly setting out to do so, making healthy versions of Asian takeout favorites has become a little side hobby of mine.

How to Make Teriyaki Chicken

Like the original recipe, this one is made of simple, homemade ingredients. You don’t need to make Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken with bottled sauce. Instead, swap the store-bought sauce for a quick mix of:

Soy Sauce. I like and recommend low sodium.

Rice Vinegar. A staple in any stir-fry sauce. This provides the acid that balances the teriyaki sauce’s sweetness.

Honey. This replaces some of the brown sugar (most restaurant sauces are LOADED with sugar).

Brown Sugar. We do still need a bit for the quintessential teriyaki chicken flavor, but again, this far less than what you’ll find in a bottle or at a restaurant.

Fresh Garlic and Fresh Ginger. To bring the teriyaki sauce to life.

Cornstarch. To thicken the teriyaki chicken marinade into a thick, glossy sauce that coats every forkful.

How to Cook Teriyaki Chicken in the Instant Pot

One mega advantage this easy pressure cooker teriyaki chicken recipe has over my slow cooker version is that everything cooks in one pot. (This is the Instant Pot that I have and recommend.) Instead of reducing the teriyaki sauce on the stove, you can do it right in the Instant Pot itself! Thank you sauté mode.

Place the chicken in the Instant Pot. You can use chicken breasts, go for Instant Pot teriyaki chicken thighs, or even use frozen chicken.

Stir the sauce ingredients together. Easy peasy.

Pour over the chicken, seal, and cook! The amount of time will vary based on if you used breasts or thighs, as well as if your chicken is fresh or frozen.

Remove the cooked chicken to a plate and shred it with two forks. At this point, it will be fall-apart tender.

Switch the Instant Pot to sauté, then add the cornstarch slurry. Let it bubble and thicken into a glorious, hopelessly addictive teriyaki sauce.

Stir the chicken back into the sauce, and serve!

How to Serve Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Keep it simple: serve Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken with rice. Use brown rice for a higher fiber and protein content. You can make this in advance in the Instant Pot or on the stove while the teriyaki chicken cooks.

While the chicken cooks, I like to steam or sauté a side of broccoli, then pile it all together with the teriyaki chicken and rice to make Instant Pot teriyaki chicken bowls.

For a lower-carb version, use cauliflower rice or even broccoli rice.

Using Frozen Chicken in the Instant Pot

The other Instant Pot advantage is that you can use frozen chicken.

General guidelines I recommend for fresh/frozen can be found in this simple guide to cooking Instant Pot Chicken!

Making this Teriyaki Chicken recipe, I can’t help but smile at the thought of high school Erin sitting down to a bowl. I’m confident she’d approve, now adult-Erin certainly approves, and I know that you and your family will too!

3tablespoonscornstarch— stirred together with 1/4 cup water to create a slurry

For serving:

Thinly sliced green onions

Toasted sesame seeds

Prepared brown rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice

Instructions

Lightly coat the bottom of a 6-quart Instant Pot with nonstick spray. Arrange the chicken breasts in the bottom.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, honey, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger. Pour over the chicken.

Close and seal the Instant Pot. Cook on HIGH (manual) pressure for 10 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then immediately vent to release the remaining pressure. Carefully open the lid. Turn the Instant Pot OFF. Transfer the chicken to a plate and let it cool a few minutes. Once you can safely handle it, shred the chicken with two forks or cut it into bite-size pieces.

Turn the Instant Pot to SAUTE. Once the liquid begins to simmer, slowly whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Continue whisking to ensure the sauce is smooth and does not have any lumps. Continue to cook and whisk until the sauce thickens, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Turn the Instant Pot OFF. Add the chicken back to the pot and toss to coat in the sauce. Serve hot with prepared rice and a sprinkle of green onions and sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Rewarm gently in the microwave or on the stovetop, with a splash of water or chicken broth if you'd like to thin the mixture back out a bit.

77 comments on “Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken”

I love this, I don’t have an instant pot but I am guessing if i make the sauce a head of time I could make this in my slow cooker? I love making sauces from scratch, and this teriyaki sauce is going on the list to try. I make a homemade sweet chili sauce and could never go back to store bought especially knowing all the extra weird ingredients that are on the label, don’t need to be there. Oh, and I loved the post about how you are developing recipes for you cookbook, just didn’t get a chance to comment. Thanks for what I am sure will be a winner.

Kibby, I am afraid rice vinegar is totally unique and has a unique flavor. It especially shines in Asian dishes. It’s not too expensive and available at most grocery stores, so I definitely recommend it here.

This was great but pay attention to the recipe and DO use the LOW SODIUM soy sauce. I usually ignore low sodium and use the regular kind. Mine turned out really good, but you could tell how much better it would have been it was less salty.

I would also recommend stir frying some water chestnuts, celery and whatever else (maybe cashews) in sesame oil and adding them to sauce after the chicken is done.

Made this tonight, i thought it turned out really well and the Mrs gave it high praise also. I stir fried some red and yellow onion along with a sweet red pepper in the IP before cooking the chicken. These were added back along with the chicken at stage 5. It Involved a little bit extra time, however kept the washing up to a minimum, happy days. Lots left for lunch tomorrow. Thanks again. Roddy

So excited to have discovered your website! I’m allergic to garlic and ginger. How do you think the sauce would be without those ingredients? Can you think of something else I could add? I would love to be able to have a teriyaki sauce I can actually eat!

Hi Anne! The two add a lot of flavor to the recipe, so unfortunately I’d be hesitant to go forward without them. You could check out some of the other stir fry recipes on my site (https://www.wellplated.com/category/recipes-by-type/stir-fries/) to see if there are some that might work better with your needs. I’m sorry to have to say that, but I’d hate for you to make this and not love the flavor.

I just got my instant pot and this was the first recipe I prepared, now its a family staple for those busy evenings when you need a second self between sports pick up and dinner. Thank you for this delicious recipe and making it soo quick and easy

I used low sodium soy sauce and found this to be too salty and too sweet. The instant pot aspect worked perfectly and I liked how much sauce there was…so I will have to tweak to make a little more tonour taste. Thanks!

Hi April! You could experiment with cutting the chicken first, but that would drastically reduce the cook time. I can only vouch for the recipe as written, and keeping the chicken in whole pieces lessens the chance it will overcook. But if you decide to experiment, I’d love to hear how it goes.

Thanks for recipe. I just got an instant pot. . First time I was able to thicken a sauce with corn starch. But it was not sweet enough for our tastes. If I add more sugar and honey do I need to add anything else? Or less soy sauce ?

Hi Courtney, you could certainly add more honey to taste. I have not tried it myself, but it may need a little extra salt from the soy sauce, but you can taste it after you add more honey before you decide. I hope you enjoy!

I’ve made this recipe several times. It is out of this world delicious! I’ve used both chicken breast and chicken thighs. I just recently acquired a taste for chicken thighs. I never used to eat them. Just a texture thing for me. In the IP, the thighs are the way to go. I haven’t found a way to cook breasts in in IP yet without them being so dry. Any tips would be helpful. This dish is fabulous with cauliflower rice and some stir fried veggies. I just throw the veggies into the decadent sauce for a few minutes before serving or drizzle it over the veggies. This is by far the best tasting sauce of any site that I follow. BTW, your IP beef with broccoli recipe is another favorite. Thanks for always sharing your recipes. I love following your blog.

Thanks for another great recipe that’s just as delicious as it is quick and easy. I’ve been wanting to try this since I first spotted it, and I finally made it tonight. My husband and I both loved it. It’s eons better than any other chicken teriyaki recipe I’ve ever tried. I’ll definitely be making this again!

I made this today…used regularly soy sauce just added a tad more water to dilute. I left out the ginger and added red pepper flakes. I steamed some shredded carrots, onion and zucchini from the garden in a lil soy, water and seasonings for a topping. It was very good.

I read your blog above & your simple guide to cooking Instant Pot Chicken, but I cannot figure out how to adjust the Instant Pot cooking time for skinless, boneless chicken thighs. Can you please help?

Really great recipe! Had this for dinner tonight and the whole family loved it. I have made homemade teriyaki before but the traditional Japanese recipe calls for sake and mirin. My dad is a recovering alcoholic and avoids foods cooked with alcohol so I was really relieved to find this version! It was delicious and we’ll definitely make it again. Thank you!

Hi Allie! Thanks for your question! I have not tried this recipe with pork, so I don’t have any guidance to offer. However, I would suspect that the pork may require different cooking times. I hope you enjoy the recipe if you give it a try!

So, i wanted some Chinese food for dinner tonight and i wanted to use my Instant Pot. This is the first recipe that came up when i searched, and i was not disappointed. It came out so good!! I used chicken thighs (5 i have a lot of hungry mouths) and on the stove i sauted some mushrooms, minced garlic, and a vegetable medley in olive oil. I mixed everything together when it was done, served over white rice with some hot oil drizzled on top….and enjoyed every bite. This will be a regular for dinner.

Hi Erin, I would like to make this tonight for dinner. I’m still a bit of a novice with my IP and this will be my first chicken recipe (gulp!) My question for you is this: I read your post about cooking chicken in the IP, and in that post, you instruct to use the trivet to cook chicken and pour water in the bottom of the pot. Do I do that with this recipe? Or do I place the chicken directly into the pot? Also, I have an 8-qt pot and the first few times I used it I kept getting the burn message. I am smarter now and know that I need a certain amount of liquid to bring it to pressure and I know most recipes are written for a 6 qt pot. Do I need to add more of the sauce ingredients to the pot to get it to pressure? And finally, I plan on using fresh boneless thighs. Per your IP Chicken article I think I do a quick release and not a manual for 5, then quick. Sorry for all of the questions! I just want to ensure success. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hi Angela! I’m more than happy to answer your questions! For using thighs in this recipe, I do 6 minutes, venting immediately to release any remaining pressure (This is based on 3-ounce boneless chicken thighs). Even with your 8qt pot, you can follow this recipe just as it is written. Place the chicken directly into the Instant Pot, stir the sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Then, seal and cook as directed. Next, you’ll remove the cooked chicken and shred it. Switch the Instant Pot to sauté, then add the cornstarch slurry. Let it bubble and then add the chicken back in. I hope this helps, and I hope you love the recipe!

Oh my gosh girl, amazing!!! My husband and I devoured it and we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!! Thanks for all of your help! Can’t wait to try more of your IP recipes! What did we ever do before this amazing device?! XO!

I made this dish today, following the recipe to the “T.” It had a strong, almost bitter, undertaste. I’m at a loss to figure out what caused the undertaste. I want to say it’s the rice vinegar, but I’m not sure. My husband thought it could be the light sodium Kikkoman soy. Any thoughts?

Hi Tina! I’m sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as you hoped. I know it can be frustrating to try a new recipe and not have it work out, so I really wish you would’ve enjoyed it! As for the bitter taste, I’m not sure what that would be. It could be that one of the brands you used has a more bitter taste to it. I hope you can find other recipes you will enjoy!

This recipe is amazing. I made it with chicken thighs and used toasted sesame oil instead of cooking spray. If you cook it for 13 minutes like I did you won’t even have to remove the chicken from the pot and shred it with a fork. I simply stirred it with a spoon as I added the cornstarch mix and it shredded on its own because it was so tender.